good coffee and vogue and nyc

Tag Archives: first impressions

nyc has been an adjustment. between learning to understand the grid that is the city streets, wrangling the insanely high food tax and figuring out what times to be in or out of our little oven of a room, i haven’t really had a moment to really process where i am and what i’m doing. if i’m being honest, i still feel like i’m on vacation: life here for me has made 7 days feel like one incredibly long one, there’s no stop. you wake up in the morning and half of the world is already seated at a desk in the heart of the city, while you groggily wipe sleep from your eyelids. and when you pillow your head at night, half the world is still running around in circles, finishing up last minute tasks and some are even just beginning their night at the bar down the street. regardless, manhattan is charming. tough and hard to crack, a little rough around the edges and a little hard to navigate, but so delightfully charming.

i made myself a tourist this week, exploring all the must-sees, jamming in as many excursions as possible into our endlessly free summer days that are coming to an end tomorrow. high-line was one of my favorites.

remodeled from an old railroad track, highline stretches across the city heights, providing beautiful look outs on each avenue and street from Ganseevort street in West Village to the 30th street on the outskirts of Manhattan.

in addition to high line we have eaten gelato in chelsea, devoured shakes and fries in madison square park, explored 5th ave and gone to coney island. each offered their own private experience of the city, creating a well rounded atmosphere dubbed “the concrete jungle.”

it has been such a privilege and a blessing to be able to discover the streets that create my dream, but with each beautiful moment has come a lot of hurdles.

anxiety is one of them. being surrounded by so many people all the time is one of the most magical aspects of this place but it can also be the most challenging. i have found that “alone time” is hard to come by and have found a newfound respect for headphones. living in nyc with anxiety means: always having a water bottle, gum, and prayers flying all the time. The Lord has been very sweet to me, and brings his aroma into my days often. but the anxiety is still there, lurking, and sometimes even just going for a walk is hard. regardless: taking a few steps despite my minds best efforts has been the most rewarding. beautiful moments happen on the other side of fear.

so all-in-all, nyc has been exactly what i thought it would be. challenging and exciting, hard work and beautifully easy, it is a strange oxymoron, a contradiction in and of itself, and walking down each avenue and street has decoded just a little of its riddle. i am so excited about these next few months, these next few years, this season of my life that will be spent decoding each avenue as passions drift by worn on the sleeves of those who walk.